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Shōyō Hinata
is the main protagonist of the Haikyū!! series by Haruichi Furudate. He is a first year student at Karasuno High and is one of the volleyball team's middle blockers. Hinata's dream is to become strong enough to spike past tall blockers, just like his idol, the Small Giant, once did. However, since he lacks height to play middle blocker effectively, he specializes in jumping to compensate. Appearance Hinata is 164.2 cm, making him the second shortest person on his team, next to Nishinoya (although this height is typically average for a male Japanese High School student and is also seen in grown men). He has unruly, orange hair and brown eyes. His relatively thin build and short stature often lead him to be mistaken for a junior high (or in some cases even grade school) student. Hinata typically dresses in his Karasuno school uniform with a black jacket and black pants. Beneath his jacket is a beige or tan sweatshirt. In the first episode, he wore the green volleyball uniform from his junior high. During matches, Hinata wears his volleyball uniform—a navy blue jersey and corresponding shorts with white and orange stripes on the sides. On the back of his jersey is his position number 10 (coincidentally, the same number that was worn by the Small Giant) and his school's name written in kanji. On court, he wears kneepads and white volleyball shoes with red stripes. Personality Hinata has a cheerful and energetic personality. He is a natural schmoozer, a quality that his teammates occasionally use to win someone over (Nishinoya, for example). Hinata is also very easily excited and often talks loudly; he is the loudest member after Nishinoya and Tanaka. His friendly personality allows him to befriend even the quietest of people effortlessly, such as Kenma from Nekoma High and Aone from Date Tech High. However, despite his generally bubbly exterior, Hinata is also shown to have a serious attitude, particularly when it comes to volleyball. His intense love for the sport is demonstrated through his impressive display of tenacity stemming from his constant desire to improve his abilities. As stated by Sugawara, Hinata plays with great fortitude in the face of adversity, and thus doesn't give up easily during a match, even if it's just practice. Hinata can also exhibit a very intimidating expression when people underestimate him. Still, Hinata gets scared easily, especially by larger and stronger opponents. This prompts him to develop the habit of hiding behind his nearest teammate. However, he recovers quickly before confidently challenging their opponents. Hinata, like Kageyama, does poorly in school since he, too, is preoccupied with volleyball. He once told Sugawara that ever since he'd entered high school, he had never scored in the double digits on any of his tests. Statistics Hinata is often described as clumsy, yet incredibly athletic. Before entering Karasuno High, he didn't know much about volleyball and would hit any spike he wanted, regardless of what type it was. However, with the help of his new teammates, he soon learned the fundamentals and basic techniques. Despite all his training, Hinata serves still occasionally hit the net or are easily received by his opponents. He isn't known as a powerful player, but rather as one who utilizes speed and stamina to his advantage. Above all else, Hinata’s main assets are his fortitude and determination to win. Hinata's game sense is truly incredible, according to Oikawa. Most of the characters in the show and manga don't credit Hinata for this. They're all aware of his abilities, but his actual game sense is impeccable. He constantly tries to figure out what he, personally, can do to help out during a match. Hinata works well with everyone and he can easily improvise when things don't go according to plan. Hinata often tries to learn from mistakes made in past matches, and he improves his skills merely by watching his opponents and teammates and trying to copy their movements (although most of the time he fails on the first try). Hinata is also one of the few players with the ability to see the entire width of the court when he reaches the apex of his jump. He has said that when he's jumping to spike, he can see the movements his opponents make and even the individual expressions on their faces. Since the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Hinata’s overall skills have improved greatly. His agility was increased by the practice flying falls he did as punishment for his team’s losses and he now has better coordination on the court. Whenever he tries to save balls, he doesn't fly through the air or crash into the wall anymore; instead, he can change his footing and bounce off the wall or floor without much effort. He can also switch hands midway through a spike if the ball goes in the wrong direction. And he's learned from the former Coach Ukai how to time his movements with a setter's toss and evaluate different options if the toss isn't ideal. He was also taught several new techniques by influential players at the joint training camp and by the former Coach Ukai, whom Hinata trained under as he was developing the new quick strike with Kageyama: *'Block out:' In a mini-match against Lev, Tsukishima, and Kuroo, Hinata accidentally learned how to "block out" by himself when he spiked the ball off the tip of Lev’s fingers. It would also seem that Hinata is only able to block out against significantly taller players at the moment, evidenced by the three times he's performed it. He successfully blocked out against both Lev and Kakugawa High's Hyakuzawa, both of whom are well above Hinata's height (~30-40 cm). Against Wakutani South High's Nakashima, however, Hinata hit the ball well over his head because Nakashima is only slightly taller than Hinata (~5-10 cm). In any case, he can only use the block out technique if he's able to accurately target the blockers' hands. *'Feint:' Fukurōdani Academy's ace Bokuto also taught Hinata how to feint—a useful tactic for surprising blockers. He even manages to utilize this against both Johzenji High and Aobajōsai High, something both teams didn't expect him to be able to do. Hinata even rendered Matsukawa's strategy of narrowing his spike course limit useless since the latter didn't expect him to feint. Against Shiratorizawa, he managed to block with his cheeks rather than his whole face to avoid being hit right on the nose. Height and reach, as of mid-November: * Fingertip Height: 210 cm * Jumping Reach : 333 cm (spike) / 310 cm (no run up block) Stamina and Speed Hinata is known as the fastest player on his team and has incredible, seemingly unlimited stamina; he has stated that he built-up his stamina by riding his bike thirty minutes through the mountains each morning to get to school. Hinata can easily go from the left side of the court to the right side before his opponents can even react. However, his speed can be a problem if he goes overboard; Hinata's inertia may carry him too far and he could touch the net. Jumping Hinata is considered short for a middle blocker. Because of this, many of his opponents and his teammates are surprised that he can easily jump to impressive heights. During the summer training camp, he learned how to jump diagonally using tempo from the older Coach Ukai. His jumping ability is also described as flying according to certain bystanders. He has a vertical jump of almost 1.23m, or almost 50 inches (48.4). His running jump also helps him block aggressively, as if he is going for a counter spike, as evidenced against Ushijima. Decoy Since Hinata isn’t tall, many opponents underestimate him initially. However, their attention is soon drawn to him when he and Kageyama use their quick strikes to easily score points. This method brings all the attention to Hinata, leaving the other players somewhat unguarded. When the opposing blockers are completely focused on the quick strikes, the other players of Karasuno strike instead and easily score points. Because of this, Hinata has been dubbed the "Ultimate Decoy". Though Hinata originally despises being called a decoy, he later realizes just how important his role is to the team's success. God-Like Quick Combination Hinata and Kageyama are sometimes called the "freak duo" due to Kageyama's incredibly quick toss and Hinata's complete trust in his setter. Originally, Kageyama would send a toss to Hinata at an extremely fast speed and Hinata would spike it with his eyes closed. This combo has evolved into many different types of attacks. Since the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Kageyama has changed his toss to a drop motion. Hinata has also learned how to spike using tempo from the former Coach Ukai. The toss originally went directly to the perfect spot for Hinata to hit, but now, the ball goes over Hinata's reach and then drops down to meet his hands. This allows Hinata a chance to aim with the quick instead of having to close his eyes, giving him more options and letting him adapt to his opponents' movements. During the Aobajōsai vs. Karasuno match in the Spring High, Hinata discovered a new attack after he accidentally jumped too close to the net and Kageyama had to set the ball to that area. The ball was almost on top of the net, and Hinata spiked it straight down into an area where the blockers and libero couldn't reach in time. However, they don't use this technique often and save it for crucial moments of the matches. Hinata also developed a minus-tempo quick attack as a weapon to use against extremely tall opponents, such as Yūdai Hyakuzawa. Minus-Tempo Stopping Toss Spike This new version of the God-Like Quick Combo utilizes Kageyama's new stopping toss, Hinata's newly gained experience, and the same basic formation of the god-like quick. This version allows Hinata to keep his eyes open during the god-like quick, making the aerial battle his to command. Kageyama's stopping toss pauses for a moment right in the line of Hinata's spike, giving Hinata easy access to the ball and letting him decide what to do with it instead of simply hitting it straight down. This quick will most likely continuously evolve through the series as it has many different possibilities. Touch Spike An offset ability of the Minus-Tempo Stopping Toss Spike, of sorts. When Kageyama realizes that Hinata is too close to the net and has been blocked from spiking many times against Aobajousai, Kageyama sets the ball as close to the net as possible so that Hinata can gently flick the ball over the netSeason 2, Episode 24. Hinata also worked to improve his body control and perform the touch spike with his left hand, even when his body was going to the right. Close Receive A variation of a soft block. Given his small stature as a middle blocker, Hinata has to be able to block and receive similar to a libero without always relying on his speed, stamina, and jumping ability. To perform a close receive, Hinata jumps from 2-4 feet behind the net and uses the power of the spike against his opponents while pushing the ball over the net. Block out When he performs a block out successfully, Hinata spikes the ball so that it crosses over the net and hits the fingertips of the blocking hand of his opponent hard enough to continue moving, though often at a higher angle. Then, the ball falls out of bounds and Karasuno is awarded a point. Feint A move used to mislead opponents. Bokuto describes a feint as "something born from upsetting the balance of stillness and motion." In reality, a feint involves acting as if you're going to spike the ball with all of your strength, then gently tap it high over the blocking opponents. Because they expected a strong spike and put everything into the jump to block it, they won't be able to easily adapt to the surprisingly light hit and will likely fail to receive it. Trivia *Favorite Food: Tamago Kake Gohan. *Current Concern: He can't catch a ball one-handed. *Like Kageyama, since he was born on the cusp his star-sign isn't clear; if he was born before 12pm he is a Gemini, if he was born after, he is a Cancer. *Before the final exam in the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Hinata has stated that he has never had a double-digit score on any of his quizzes at school. *Hinata's worst subject is English. His voice actor Murase Ayumu, however, was born in America (Los Angeles) and is able to speak English fluently. *When Hinata feels scared or threatened, he instinctively hides behind the nearest person. * Hinata is the oldest first year on the team. * His birthday overlaps with the summer solstice (June 21st, the longest day and shortest night of the year) which contrasts Kageyama's birthday which occurs in the winter solstice (December 22nd, the longest night and shortest day of the year). *In the first popularity poll, Hinata was ranked 2nd, after Kageyama with 6,058 votes. In the second popularity poll, he was ranked 1st with 12,720. *In a poll conducted by Charapedia, a Japanese anime and manga character database that asked people which anime characters they would choose as the basis for their children's name, Hinata came in 8th with 104 votes among female respondentshttp://www.charapedia.jp/research/0076/3/. *In Haikyū!!: One Shot, Hinata's jersey number was 7, instead of 10. *In Haikyū!!: One Shot, Hinata was not a first year regular. Hinata and Kageyama had actually formed their "Oddball Combo" during a match against another school and not in a 3-on-3 against Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Daichi. *English media such as Crunchyroll (anime) and VIZ Media (manga) have his name written as 'Hinata Shoyo'. *Hinata's name has the character for "sun" and Tsukishima's name has the character for "moon". This is a reference to the fact that they are rivals despite being on the same team. *Part of Hinata's first name and part of Kageyama's first name when combined will form the word "Hishō" (飛翔), which means "to soar" or "flight". *In regards to his name, Furudate wrote, "I gave him this name with the image of “sun” and “flying” in mind."Haikyū!! Guidebook *In regards to Hinata's character, Furudate states that they are proud of the way Hinata turned out and claimed he was designed to have no similarities whatsoever with his creator. *Hinata's most hated blocking type is Matsukawa Issei's. * Nomenclature ** Shōyō (翔陽) can be read as "flying heaven". *** However, "yō" also has different meanings: "sunshine, yang principle, positive, male, heaven, or daytime". *** His family name Hinata (日向) can be read as "place in the sun". References }} ja:日向 翔陽 Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Yukigaoka Junior High Volleyball Club Category:Karasuno High Volleyball Club Category:Middle Blockers Category:1st Year